


The Jock...and Logan

by Shay_Nioum



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, High School AU, Human AU, Platonic Logince - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-29 23:57:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17817962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shay_Nioum/pseuds/Shay_Nioum
Summary: Logan is a nerd, that much is a given and something that he’s gotten used to over the years. One thing that he can’t get used to, no matter how much it happens, is the fact that people use and then subsequently leave him.





	The Jock...and Logan

Waking up felt just about like every other morning, his alarm blaring out whatever song happened to be streaming on the radio as he blearily opening his eyes before he wildly stretched his hand out fumbling for his glasses. That morning, Logan slid his glasses onto his face like he did every single day before school, just like he picked up his phone, the hope that was bursting in his chest completely withering and dying as soon as he saw that the screen was completely and utterly blank. Save for one name that had just recently been added to his contacts. 

_ This is the tenth time.  _ That spark of hope died where it had been burning in his heart.  _ The tenth time that they haven’t answered..the tenth time that they’ve ignored my messages..and me.  _ This time it took a little more effort for Logan to push those nasty thoughts that lingered just under the surface of his mind, as he wiped away the stringing of his eyes. It hurt, but that hurt was getting better to ignore, especially as he tapped on the message that remained on his phone screen, the profile picture already making a smile tug at the corners of his lips. 

 

**Prince Surely-Temple:** _ We still on for studying today?  _ **  
** **Prince Surely-Temple:** _ My mom made us an apple strudel thing.  _ _   
_ **Prince Surely-Temple:** _ It’s good I promise. _ **  
** **Prince Surely-Temple:** _ Looooogan. _ **  
** **Prince Surely-Temple:** _ I’ll see you at school, you better be there nerd. AND with an empty stomach.  
_ **Prince Surely-Temple:** __ Or else!

 

Logan’s stomach grumbled at the mere thought of Roman’s mother’s cooking, just about anything that she managed to bake with her own hand ended up being good enough to go down in history. She was the only reason that Logan even went to those boring football meet and greets, aside from the fact that Roman was there and they’d agreed to help each other. Logan with Roman’s trigonometry final coming up, and Roman..with the jerks who strolled through the halls looking for easy targets. Or that’s how it had started at first, Roman’s loveable goofball charm was just as intoxicating as it was sweet. Sure he still helped him study, but they also hung out afterward. He sat with him at lunch, listening to him ramble on and on about his astronomy class and his most recent obsession, whatever that happened to be at the time. 

It was...nice, for a change.

“Logan!” The thickly accented voice of his aunt cut through the air like a knife from down the hall where she was most certainly lingering by the kitchen door with that look of stubborn concern written all over her warm face, her voice alone startled him out of his thoughts as his head snapped up in attention. “It’s a school day! The bus will be here any minute! You can’t miss today!” 

For a second, Logan wanted to groan and bury himself in his mountain of pillows and block out every sound and hint of sunlight that would force him to face the reality of school. He wanted to, the very idea of it nagged at his very core as exhaustion tugged at his bones. But...the mere image of his aunt’s worried but stern eyes looking back at him, telling him that there was no way he was going to miss school so close to finals had him up before he could even think it through. 

He went through the motions of getting ready. Brushed his hair, until it gleamed in the poor lighting of the bathroom, brushed his teeth until his gums ached, and put on his clothes. A carbon copy of just about the same outfit he wore every single day, and after gathering his books he was ready to go. Leaving the sanctuary of his room, just to come face to face with his cousin. Who, as always was dressed head to toe in pure black without a single hint of lighter colors to be seen on him, and a snarling grimace permanently attached to his face.  

A part of Logan groaned internally, no matter what mood he was in, Virgil always had a nose for picking out whatever was bothering someone...and their weaknesses. 

And unfortunately for him, he was the very person that Virgil was sinking his hooks into next, that was pretty much a given just by the slightest tilt of the other’s head. 

“You know,” Virgil drawled as he poured his cup of orange juice, his dark eyes drifted over the top of his drink as his lip curved down into what could only be a disappointed frown aimed right at Logan’s forehead where the words “Gullible” were written for everyone to see in plain sight, or at least for Virgil to see as he set the jug of juice down on the counter. “If you weren’t such a pushover, you’d have a lot more friends than you already do.” 

Logan’s forehead crinkled in confusion as his brown eyes darted all over Virgil’s face, the moment that his cousin started to languidly sip from his drink. “What..” He swallowed thickly as his grip tightened unconsciously on his books, “What are you talking about?” He honestly didn’t want to know the answer, and judging by the way that Virgil’s eyebrows lifted as a bemused smile lit up his face, he really didn’t want to know the answer. That dark smile was usually only reserved for people who Virgil had a personal beef with, or... for people’s heads he really just wanted to get into. Whichever one he was, remained to be seen. 

But even so, Virgil strolled forward like one of the villains that Logan had seen on his cartoon programs. 

“Don’t you know?” Virgil’s voice was a croon as he rested his heavier hand atop Logan’s head, rustling his hair and messing it up despite Logan obviously just having brushed it. “Everyone knows who you are Logan, you’re the smart one, the clever one, the one who knows all the answers to every school-related problem. They know that, so they get you to help, and once they have everything that they want from you…” Virgil paused ominously as his frown deepened even more, and his eyes flashed with a singular moment of furious hatred. “Once they have that..they don’t need you. I’ve seen it too often from the people you’ve helped Lo, they all talk behind your back and you just let them. I don’t want to see it happen again, so...don’t let it happen again. Understood?”

A sensation that Logan could only describe as crushing settled over his throat, like a foot pressing down on his chest getting harder and harder as each second passed. 

Was that really all that he was to people? A bookworm..a nerd...a useful object for people to use and abandon once they got what they needed from him? 

Even so, Logan mustered a tiny shaken nod towards Virgil’s dark narrowed eyes, getting only a firm nod in return.

_ Was that what that was? _ Logan couldn’t help but for the storming thoughts in his mind to swirl uncontrollably.  _ Remington? Toby? Magie? Percy? They never answered the texts I sent to them, and they all just ignore me at school. So..So is Virgil, right? He’s never been wrong before, so maybe- _

The unmistakable sound of the bus tires squealing in front of his house ripped him right out of his thoughts as his eyes darted over to the screen door. 

“Your bus is here,” Virgil plainly said, his upper lip curling just faintly at the mere thought of high school. “You shouldn’t miss the bus, mom will be pissed if you do.” And just like that, his darkly clad cousin moved to walk away, back down to the basement where his bed and gaming system laid in wait for him. But glancing back over to Logan, who was in the process of gathering his things for school he piped up one last time. “Don’t forget about what I said Lo, sever your ties with them..hurt them before they can hurt you. You’ll be all the better for it.” And just like that the basement door shut with a resounding thud, that echoed throughout the house and throughout Logan’s mind as he slung his bag over his shoulder. 

He couldn’t stop fidgeting throughout the entire bus ride, with Virgil’s warning ringing through his ears. 

Never before had Logan ever imagined high school being any different than it already was, never before had he imagined that the different groups of people would feel so alien to him, but they did. Every piece of brick around him, to the smallest stripe of paint, felt off to him, like he was looking through the world with a new set of eyes. His chest ached with each step that he took, and his breathing whistled with the smallest exhale that left his lips. 

And it all accumulated into that one moment, all rushing up into one volcanic erupting as he felt an arm lock around his neck, and the familiar smell of roses and strawberries fill his nostrils. 

“Hey, nerd,” Roman’s lips quirked upwards in a half-friendly smile as he buried his knuckles into Logan’s messy hair, that really looked like the guy hadn’t even touched it with a brush let alone washed it in the past two days. The smile on his face waned just slightly as soon as Logan hastily pushed Roman’s hand off of his head like it contained some rare bacteria that would infect him with a flesh-eating virus, “You okay dude? You look like shit.” He joked, just for his smile to grow smaller and smaller as soon as Logan’s fists clenched, trembling by the nerd’s side. “You still up for helping me study this aftern-”

“No.” 

The words sounded like they were hissed from Logan’s lips, as the smaller boy glanced up at Roman, glaring through his watery eyelashes as his bottom lip trembled with each second that ticked by. His teeth were bared in a mockery of a fearsome beastly snarl, a look that almost instantly faded as soon as Logan took a breath, his chest hitching with that one movement. 

His throat felt like someone had stuffed it full of cotton, and his lung full of wet tissue paper. The sound of air traveling through his windpipe and into his lungs made a dreadful whistling noise as he stood there before the football player, who was only now looking at him with a dawning kind of horror. As Logan pressed his lips together, the compressed sensation crushing his chest more and more as time slowly ticked by, the seconds felt like entire hours as the cool air licked at his wet cheeks but still wouldn’t get into his lungs. He was suffocating, with an entire world of oxygen around him, his lungs weren’t working, even though there wasn’t a single thing wrong with them. Everything seemed to slow down, as the bright lights from school hallways beamed down at him, catching on the metal zipper of Roman’s jacket, and just about everything else that could reflect like and be aimed at Logan’s eyes. 

Within mere agonizing moments, Roman had seized Logan’s arm, hoisting him up as soon as it looked like Logan’s knees were going to give out on him. “Shit! Shitshitshit!” The jock hissed to himself, he could practically feel the resignation in Logan’s eyes as he heaved him up dragging him from the overcrowded hallway, and into the calm blissful silence of the library that had yet to fill up with students who were studying for their finals. “Breathe Lo, breath!” 

Even just saying that felt useless as Logan let out a sharp whistling exhale that twisted something deep inside Roman’s stomach, and made him feel like he was soon going to be sick all over the dull faded blue carpet of the library. His hands were shaking as Logan’s fingers clung to the back of the chair that had been neatly pushed under one of the tables, his knuckles were turning white and his lips were gaining a faint blue-ish tinge to them. However Roman was trying to help him, it clearly wasn’t doing any good. 

Logan pawed weakly but with the desperation of a dying man at one of the zipped up compartments of his backpack, “Hal..er..In..hale..r” He wheezed out, and the very sound sent a shudder down Roman’s spine, his mother had told him often enough about the dead man’s rattle from her time working in the hospital. About how even when her patients couldn’t even open their eyes, the one thing that always remained with them until the end was that wheezing rattle that clung to the hollow base of their throat. 

Until their breathing ceased altogether. 

Even so, it took less than a few seconds for everything to slot right into place. 

_ Inhaler! He’s having an asthma attack you dumbass!  _ Roman mentally snarled to himself, as he yanked at Logan’s backpack with a quick jerk of his arms. Scattering the contents along the floor as he hastily unzipped the pocket before shoving his hand around, frantically grabbing ahold of it like it was the cup that led to the fountain of youth. In no time at all the inhaler found its way into Logan’s hand, as Roman watched the entire time that Logan pushed the plunger down inhaling deeply before holding his breath. 

Little by little, the color came back to Logan’s face, the blue tint leaving his lips in order to be replaced with a healthy looking peach color. Seeing it come back made Roman’s stiff shoulders sink in a pure tidal wave of relief that came crashing down on him all at once, making his knees feel weak and his entire body like jello. 

“I didn’t know you had asthma,” He felt a rush of guilt almost immediately as Logan’s entire body stiffened all at once, at the sound of his accusatory voice. “But serious Lo, what’s going on? I..I know you, so you’re not one who’s going to cancel like this out of the blue, so...what’s wrong dude? Talk to me.” His eyes flickered down to Logan’s hands again, watching how they grasped the back of the chair. His knuckles were white again, a stark contrast against Roman’s own darker skin. “Has someone been bothering you? I’ll make them stop Lo! I promise, just talk to me and-”

“It’s you!” The shout roared in the silence of the library just mere seconds before Roman felt the inhaler bounce back off of his chest, Logan ran his fingers through his messy knotted hair. “It’s you and everyone in this damned school!” Logan seethed, his cheeks pinking just slightly as soon as he had to stoop down and pick his inhaler back up from where he had just throw it. “You’re all so content to use people! The smart kid, the tough kid, the kind kid, the pushover! Everyone! The moment you get something from me, I’ll be obsolete in your little world view! My usefulness will be over, and you’ll just go along like I never existed in the first place! You ignore me and ignore me, until you need something! You all do!” By the time that Logan was even close to being finished his chest was heaving with each breath as he clutched at his inhaler, tears glistened on his eyelashes as he vehemently glared back at Roman as if he had just witnessed him kick a puppy into the street. “And I’m sick of it,” Logan hissed, taking a single step back in order to grab his backpack. “I’m not some fucking tissue for you to throw away once you’ve jacked your shit off! So..so fuck off!”

Tears rolled silently down Logan’s cheeks like an avalanche of shame, as his breathing hitched with every breath that he took. 

The guilt that pummeled into Roman’s chest easily took his breath away as his fingers itched to wipe away the tears that were scattered across Logan’s cheeks like fresh salty raindrops cascading down from the sky. Was this what Logan really thought of them, of every single person who happened to come to him for help? That he was just the defacto smart kid, and that people were just there to take from him? Looking into his eyes and searching his face, Roman felt his insides wither. Logan didn’t think this about them...he knew that it was what happened.

“Lo…” The whisper that left Roman’s lips was as soft as the fresh morning dew of sunrise, reaching forward he used his sleeve to wipe away the tears that leaked down the other’s face with a gentleness that surprised even him. “I..I..” He swallowed thickly before carrying on, “I don’t hang around you because I know that you’re smart Lo, yeah you’re smart, so what? You’re my friend because you treat me like friends should. I like that we can talk openly about things and you won’t judge me, just like I don’t judge you for your obsession over jam and Sherlock. We can talk poetry until the sky turns dark, I’m your friend because you’ll listen to me rant and rave about the cute guy down the block and not talk down to me, just as I love to listen to you ramble on and on about the stars and how they got their names. I’m friends with you for a lot of reasons Logan,” Roman took a single step forward before he tightly grasped Logan’s shoulders. “But none of them are just because you’re smart, you’re a person, and as a person, I enjoy everything about you. Got it?”

Logan raked his sleeve across his cheeks as more tears poured from his eyes.

“Yeah,” He choked out, his voice hoarse and gravely as he offered Roman a simple grin that only wobbled with the coming influx of tears. “I got it.” 


End file.
